About Gujarati New Year – Nutan Varsh – Bestu Varsh

Padvo or Gujarati New Year also known as Varsha Pratipada or Nutan Varsh or Bestu Varsh is the fourth Day of five day Diwali Festival. It marks the start of Gujarati Lunar Calendar which is known as Vikram Samvat Calendar.

The day is celebrated on the first lunar day of Shukla Paksha (Bright fortnight) in the Hindu calendar month of Kartika which in Gujarati is known as ‘Kartak Sud Ekam’

The Day hold lot of significance for the Gujarati community. Gujarati’s all over the world celebrates the New Year to mark the beginning of a new fiscal year. The day is of significance for the business community as it marks the start of their new accounting year.

Gujarati New Year Day Celebrations :

The celebration for this day is similar to Diwali. Although the day is celebrated throughout the country the day holds special significance for Gujarati Community.

On this day people wake up early, take a bath and after wearing new clothes visit temples to take blessings from God so that their new year goes well.

On this day, Gujarati’s decorate their homes with ‘rangolis’ and garlands. In the evening, people light up their houses with oil lamps and colourful lights.

Forgot to mention, people have lots of sweets, exchange gifts and also burst firecrackers on this day and they wish Happy New Year saying “Saal Mubarak” in Gujarati to every one by visiting their homes, calling them on phones, or in today’s busy world sending them Happy Gujarati New Year SMS and Greeting Cards …

It should be noted that the same day is celebrated as Bali Pratipada in South India and Govardhan Puja or Annakut in North India. Their celebrations and legends are described in other articles separately.

In 2018, Gujarati New Year will be celebrated on Thursday, 8th November 2018.